Mark Lovelace Leaving SMU for Loyola

WINONA, Minn. — When Mark Lovelace accepted the position as Saint Mary's University's new head men's basketball coach last summer, he credited Lewis University head coach Jim Whitesell — whom Lovelace had been an assistant for four years prior to taking the SMU job — as instrumental in preparing him for the jump from assistant coach to head coach.

Now, one year later, Whitesell is once again instrumental in Lovelace's coaching career.

Whitesell stepped down as Lewis' head men's basketball coach to accept the head coaching position at NCAA Division I Loyola University — and he's taking Lovelace with him.

Lovelace announced Thursday that he is stepping down as the Cardinals' head coach to rejoin Whitesell in Chicago as his assistant.

"There's a lot of loyalty between coach Whitesell and myself, and getting the opportunity to work with him again is awesome," said Lovelace, who, in one year, helped turn around an SMU program that one just two games in 2002-2003, going 7-18 last season — including the school's first three-game winning streak since midway through the 2000-2001 season. "When we were both at Lewis, we talked about how nice it would be to have the opportunity to turn the Loyola program around. (Being the head coach at Loyola) has always been a dream of coach Whitesell's, and having worked with him for four years at Lewis, being his assistant at Loyola had become a dream job of mine.

"Now we both have the opportunity to live that dream."

The decision to live out that dream, however, was not an easy one.

"I haven't slept for five days," Lovelace said. "If I didn't feel the men's basketball program at Saint Mary's was headed in the right direction — if I wasn't so excited about the future of this program — I would have said yes the minute coach Whitesell asked me to come to Loyola.

"This is one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to make," continued Lovelace. "There's coaching loyalty to coach Whitesell, but there's also loyalty to Saint Mary's. We made some great strides this season, and with the solid recruiting class we have coming in, the future is bright — that's what made my decision so tough.

"Saint Mary's has felt like home since the moment I stepped on this campus, and I have truly appreciated the opportunity to be a part of the SMU community," Lovelace added. "This is a great place to work, and I'm going to miss it grealy."

According to SMU athletic director Chris Kendall, the search for Lovelace's replacement won't be easy, but it will be swift.

"We are certainly sad to see Mark leave — he's done a phenomenal job in the short time he was here. But we are also excited about the opportunity he has to advance his coaching career at Loyola," said Kendall, noting that assistant coaches John Brandsoy and Harley Piercy will remain on the Cardinals' staff. "We're going to move forward quickly to find Mark's replacement so that we can continue the positive momentum that Mark and his staff have created here."